Although both biological and environmental factors play a role in the development of psychopathy and sociopathy, it is generally agreed that psychopathy is chiefly a genetic or inherited condition, notably related to the underdevelopment of parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and impulse control.
Children that show a lack of empathy, lack of guilt and have shallow emotions, defined as callous-unemotional traits, are at increased risk of developing psychopathy in adulthood. These children are more likely to display anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and aggression.
Although sociopathy and psychopathy cannot be diagnosed until someone is 18, one of the hallmarks of both conditions is that they usually begin in childhood or early adolescence. Usually, the symptoms appear before the age of 15, and sometimes they are present early in childhood.
The term psychopathy comes from the German word psychopastiche, the first use of which is generally credited to the German psychiatrist J.L.A. Koch in 1888,39 and which literally means suffering soul.
Clinical observations at ASH have suggested 4 possible subtypes of psychopathy: narcissistic, borderline, sadistic, and antisocial.
Yes, research shows there are “good” psychopaths. Many people in positively heroic professions have strong psychopathic traits.
Can Psychopaths Fall In Love? The answer is yes. Although it might be difficult to show these emotions, they can feel something resembling affection or even strong romantic passion.
This is still considered an adult personality disorder. Long-terms studies however, show that certain children do run a higher risk for developing psychopathy later on.
Like healthy people, many psychopaths love their parents, spouse, children, and pets in their own way, but they have difficulty in loving and trusting the rest of the world.
There are some areas where psychopaths may experience normal emotions and grief is one such area. In response to death of a person with whom there is a bond, some psychopaths can experience sadness and this may even bring about feelings of guilt which are otherwise impossible to feel. Crying may be a part of this.
Most people mellow out with age, but in the case of psychopaths and those suffering from similar antisocial personality disorders such as sociopaths, bad behavior tends to get worse, according to new research from New Zealand's University of Otago.
Existing research evidence suggests that exposure to trauma through various abuse in childhood may play a relevant role in the development of psychopathic traits.
High-functioning psychopaths may be fully aware of their condition and perceive exactly how they differ from the general populace. Some psychopaths may realize that their emotions are “blunted” or “turned down” and they cannot feel joys or sorrows as much as others.
Contrary to the common view of the psychopath as a criminal mastermind, they score below par on intelligence tests. In general, far from being smart, psychopaths tend to do rather poorly in school — they are more interested in sensation-seeking, such as taking drugs.
The authors concluded that persons with psychopathy do not have a total absence or incapacity to empathize with another person, but that brain mechanisms involved are not automatically activated in these individuals (see also Keysers and Gazzola, 2014 on the ability vs. propensity for empathy).
Famous psychopaths have included: Theodore (Ted) Bundy, Clyde Barrow, Bernie Madoff, Chuck Yeager, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes. The authors presented their work in a Personality Disorders: Theory, Research and Treatment paper.
Genetic Risk Factors
There is no such thing as a “psychopathy gene.” But research tells us that psychopathy tends to run in families. Even if a parent does NOT have psychopathy, they may carry one or more genetic variants that increases their child's chance of developing psychopathy.
Psychopathic personality traits are transmitted from father-to-offspring due to genetic reasons.
According to a study published in the Journal of Personality in April, it was found that psychopaths tend to be attracted to others who have psychopathic tendencies. The study titled “Do Psychopathic Birds of a Feather Flock Together?” used 696 men and women of many different backgrounds and ethnicities.
That said, psychopaths do appreciate their relationships in their own way. They do suffer pain, feel loneliness, have desires and feel sadness if they do not receive affection.
Psychopaths may get married because it serves them well. For example, they may want to spend a partner's income or share their debt with someone else. But their behavior often leads to frequent divorces as a psychopath's partner will eventually see them in a more accurate light.
Additionally, individuals scoring high on interpersonal features of psychopathy were significantly more intelligent than those scoring high on antisocial features, but less intelligent than those scoring low on both psychopathy features (the “non psychopathy” group).